Filed under: Design, Internet, Web services, web 2.0

Similar to Doodlekit, Webnode is a free (no ads) website creation tool aimed at helping web design novices get a modern-looking website on the internet in minutes. Once you’ve registered for a Webnode account, you’re asked to select a title and slogan for your new site. Then you select a template and begin adding content.

Webnode uses a common modular system which allows you to drag content areas to create different layouts or add content like polls, forums, and pic galleries. There are also widgets for PayPal, Flickr, YouTube, and Google Maps. Like Tumblr, Webnode lets you use your own domain name for their service (instead of somename.webnode.com).

Traffic statistics are also available which show you important things like unique visitors, referring URL’s, visit duration, and browser version.

All that’s missing is a chic Web 2.0 name.

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fourohfour writes “Ars Technica is running a story on Tanya Andersen, who was awarded attorney fees in September of last year after the RIAA dropped their case against her. The RIAA subsequently appealed that award, but a US District Court judge yesterday not only upheld the award, but also upheld the dismissal of her counterclaims without prejudice. They might now be heard as part of a malicious prosecution lawsuit against the RIAA. Andersen is seeking class action status for her lawsuit, so that anyone else who has not engaged in illegal file sharing but has been threatened with legal action by the RIAA might join in. This is the case that alleges that the RIAA attempted to contact Andersen’s then eight-year-old daughter under false pretenses without her permission.”

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

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Filed under: Rumors, Competitive strategy, PepsiCo (PEP), Stocks to Purchase

We all know the soft drink giant owns popular brands like Pepsi, Mountain Dew and Gatorade, the perfect complement to a snack food portfolio that includes Frito Lay, Ruffles and Doritos. However, you may not realize what those brands mean in dollars and cents.

Over the past year, PepsiCo (NYSE: PEP) has raked in $37 billion in sales. And powerful economies of scale have helped margins remain strong (despite higher commodity costs), meaning a good chunk of incremental sales growth from fast-growing foreign markets has flowed through to the bottom line. In fact, the company currently generates more than $1 billion in free cash flow per quarter.

Much of that cash is handed over to shareholders. The firm’s streak of uninterrupted dividend increases isn’t measured in years, but decades.

Pepsi has continued to prosper, particularly overseas where revenue and operating income both jumped around 20% last quarter. Meanwhile, the shares have been marching higher as well, climbing nearly 20% to reach Monday’s close of $77.37 — not far from my $80 fair value estimate.

And I think this wealth creation machine can continue to keep shareholders happy going forward. Though demand for carbonated beverages has been somewhat tepid, the outlook for bottled water, teas, energy drinks and other innovative concoctions is bright. And given Pepsi’s large international exposure, the company also is likely to continue benefiting from a weak dollar.

Meanwhile, in the face of steep gas prices, tumbling home values and tighter access to credit, consumer confidence readings have slipped to multi-year lows. There also is increasing talk that U.S. consumers are set to cut back on their spending in the months ahead.

Fortunately, consumer staples stocks tend to shine in this harsh environment as investors seek out the shelter of defensive plays. Household budget cuts likely won’t dampen sales of drinks and potato chips.

Given its relatively modest upside potential, I would rather to wait for a more attractive entry point in Pepsi before considering a position. Nevertheless, should the economy continue to lose steam, the stock could easily gain favor and climb well north of its $80 fair value.

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Filed under: World wide web, Text, Web services

You know how it is, you’re animated, have a point but inevitably even though you can’t wait to say it, brain fog creeps in and you forgot your factoid. Don’t you hate that? It’s on the tip of your tongue, and you do remember it, but just not when you really need to access it.

AskMeNow is a text service where you type in 27563 on your mobile (which translates to ASKME) and then type in a question like “Who won the World Series in 1908?” and it texts you back an SMS answer. (Chicago Cubs). Like many q&a sites, such as Yahoo Answers, Ask Metafilter, Fluther, etc., that rely on the on the internet community for answers, AskMeNow differentiates itself by using algorithms to provide answers to mobile users.

Besides providing answers to your most pressing questions, you can also download AskMeNow’s web based mobile app directly onto your mobile device. From there you can access information such as the following:

• AskTheOperator - 411 Search
• Directions & Maps
• Reuters News Feeds
• Stock Quotes
• Local Weather Forecasts
• Horoscopes
• Movie Times
• Flight Information
• Hotel Availabilities

While there’s no charge from AskMeNow, standard messaging and data fees do apply from the various carriers. AskMeNow is headquartered in Irvine, CA.

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Filed under: Before the bell, Earnings reports, From the boards, Products and services, Competitive strategy, General Electric (GE), Merrill Lynch (MER)

Tomorrow morning before the market opens, General Electric (NYSE: GE) will get its chance to impress Wall Street when it reports its fourth-quarter numbers. So far its been a pretty turbulent earnings season, so let’s hope that GE can give the market something positive to rally behind.

Going into tomorrow’s report, analysts are expecting to see the company show earnings of 68 cents a share, and revenues of $47.2 billion. The last time that the company reported earnings was back on October 12 when it matched estimates for its third quarter, with earnings of 50 cents.

The stock could definitely use some good news. Over the past three months the stock has been struggling, and as of the close of yesterday’s trading session, the stock is trading at $34.56, which is only 1.9% above its 52-week low of $33.90.

A couple of things that Wall Street will be looking to hear about during tomorrow’s call will be the current writers strike, as well as GE’s recent announcement that it would be buying the majority of Merrill Lynch (NYSE: MER) Capital’s commercial finance operations.

So what are some of the analysts saying ahead of tomorrow’s release?

Nigel Coe, who works at Deutsche Bank is looking for good things from GE. Coe told investors that he anticipates the company to hit its earnings estimates on good performance from GE Industrial and NBC Universal, where he anticipates to see a 9% jump in revenues. We will see how NBC actually has fared during the current writers strike, which has been in effect since all the way back on November 5. Coe is predicting to see the company show earnings of 68 cents.

But what about our experts at home? What are your prediction for tomorrow’s release? Will GE surprise to the upside, match estimates, or just plain leave Wall Street disappointed with a weaker than expected quarter? Let us hear your predictions.

Following the official earnings release in the morning, we will definitely get you updated on just how good of a quarter GE had.

Let’s close with a swift look at how the stock has been performing over the past 3 months. As we discussed before… GE could definitely use some good news tomorrow:

Michael Fowlkes has worked as a stock trader for seven years and spent the last four years working as an analyst for the on the internet investment advisory service Investor’s Observer. DISCLOSURE: Mr. Fowlkes owns and/or controls diversified portfolios of long and short stock and option positions that include holdings in GE.

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skolima writes “In response to requests for even easier access to the Binary Formats, Microsoft has concurred to remove any intermediate steps necessary to get the documentation. They’re going to just post it, making it directly available as a download on the Microsoft web site. Microsoft will also make the Binary Formats subject to its Open Specification Promise by February 15, 2008. They’re even planning to include an Open Source converter implementation.”

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

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BobB-nw writes with word that this April will be the trial date for SCO’s financial reckoning. Novell will discover via the courts how much (if anything) SCO is going to be compelled to pay in compensation for the lengthy trial over Unix code rights. The NetworkWorld piece also offers an overview of the case. “In September, The Wall Street Journal described the ruling against SCO as ‘a boon to the open source software movement.’ But experts state Unix is filled with technology that carries copyrights tied to many different companies and that it would be a nightmare to open source the Unix code collectively. Instead, Novell would have to pick and choose pieces to open-source, a process that could start once the trial has ended.”

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

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BobB-nw writes with word that this April will be the trial date for SCO’s financial reckoning. Novell will discover via the courts how much (if anything) SCO is going to be compelled to pay in compensation for the lengthy trial over Unix code rights. The NetworkWorld piece also offers an overview of the case. “In September, The Wall Street Journal described the ruling against SCO as ‘a boon to the open source software movement.’ But experts state Unix is filled with technology that carries copyrights tied to many different companies and that it would be a nightmare to open source the Unix code collectively. Instead, Novell would have to pick and choose pieces to open-source, a process that could start once the trial has ended.”

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

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jgreco writes “A judge in North Dakota has just ruled that requesting a zone transfer from a public DNS server is criminal activity within the meaning of the North Dakota Computer Crimes Law. A zone transfer is a easy request that a DNS server hand over information in bulk, and a DNS server might be configured to grant or deny such requests. That the owner of a DNS server would configure the server to allow such requests, and then claim such requests were unauthorized, is simply stunning.”

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

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Filed under: Internet, E-mail, Web services

Gmail has unleashed a new shortcut for you to really keyjockey your way through your e-mail: the “e” shortcut. What does the magnificent “e” do, you ask? Well it… archives.

“But there already was an archive shortcut, “y” - why do we need another archiving shortcut?!” If this is the sentiment that you currently hold in your heart, let us explain. What “y” actually means is “remove from current view.” In the inbox it means “archive,” but in other views such as labels it means “remove label,” and in the trash it means “move to Inbox.”

So, let’s state you’re browsing through your e-mail that was filtered by a label. As you go through and try to archive your messages with the “y” button, all you’re doing is stripping the poor thing of its label. This is where the “e” key comes in. Regardless from what view you’re in, the conversation will be archived. Even if you’re in “Starred” you can archive the message with “e” instead of taking away the star from a conversation you really just wanted to archive.

If they keyboard shortcuts don’t seem to work, remember to enable them in “settings.”

[via Lifehacker]

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